Stanley Holloway
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| Stanley Holloway | |
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 CD cover showing Stanley Holloway’s photo and signature.
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| Born | 1 October 1890 London, England, UK |
| Died | 30 January 1982 Littlehampton, England, UK |
Stanley Augustus Holloway (October 1, 1890 - January 30, 1982) was an English actor and entertainer famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady. He was also renowned for his recordings of comic monologues.
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[edit] Life
He was born on the 1 October 1890 in Manor Park, East Ham, Essex (now Greater London), England, and attended Carpenters School in Stratford nearby. His first job was as a clerk in Billingsgate fish market, but from 1907 he was performing in end of pier concert parties at English east coast seaside resorts, including Walton-on-the-Naze and Clacton-on-Sea where he appeared for three years in Bert Graham and Will Bentley's concert party at the West Cliff Theatre, 1911 - 1913. He was then recruited by established comedian Leslie Henson to feature as a support in Henson’s own more prestigious concert-party. He planned a career as a singer and went to Milan to train his voice but the outbreak of war in 1914 changed his plans.
During World War I he enlisted in the Connaught Rangers infantry regiment.
After the war he found his first big success is the show The Co-Optimists which ran from 1921 until 1927 and was then filmed. A second run of the show from 1929 developed his comic song and monologue repertoire which launched his recording career with records of his own created character, "Sam Small," and Marriott Edgar's "The Ramsbottoms" selling world wide.
He spent the 1930s appearing in a series of cheaply made movies but which included some notable work in Squibs (1935) and The Vicar of Bray (1937). He also recorded "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm", a ditty by R. P. Weston and Bert Lee about the ghost of Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London, seeking revenge on Henry VIII for having her beheaded.
His career changed again in 1941 when he played in a major film production of George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara. He then took patriotic, morale boosting, light comic roles in The Way Ahead (1944), This Happy Breed (1944) and The Way to the Stars (1945).
After World War Two he had notable roles in the smash hit Brief Encounter , as Mr Crummles in Nicholas Nickleby, and a cameo role as the grave digger in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.
He then became a mainstay of the Ealing Comedies productions, making classics like Passport to Pimlico, The Lavender Hill Mob and The Titfield Thunderbolt.
His film output had made him enough of a public name in the United States to land him the part of Alfred P. Doolittle in the Broadway stage smash hit My Fair Lady, after Jimmy Cagney turned it down. He had a long association with the show appearing in the original 1956 Broadway production, the 1958 London version and the film version of 1964. He entitled his autobiography Wiv a Little Bit of Luck after the song he performed in these productions. He received his only Academy Award nomination for the performance, but lost to Peter Ustinov.
He was still performing English character parts into his eighties. He died in a Littlehampton nursing home on 30 January 1982, aged 91. His son is the actor Julian Holloway, best known for being in some of the 'Carry On films. His granddaughter is the actress and model Sophie Dahl.
[edit] Trivia
- He was named after the explorer Stanley of "Dr Livingstone I presume" fame.
- Holloway's real name was Stanley Edgar (see Edgar Wallace below)
- The lion "Wallace" who "ate up poor Albert" in one of Holloway's famous sketches, was named after Marriott Edgar's step-brother, Edgar Wallace
- The lion "Wallace" (see above) is often said to have been named after Wallis Simpson. This is not true, however Holloway did develop a rather skittish follow-up to the lion theme which did refer to Wallis Simpson ("also a man-eater")
[edit] Musical theatre credits
Stanley Holloway appeared in the following Musical theatre productions:-
- 1919 - Kissing Time
- 1920 - A Night Out
- 1921 - The Co-Optimists
- 1922 - The Co-Optimists
- 1923 - The Co-Optimists
- 1924 - The Co-Optimists
- 1925 - The Co-Optimists
- 1926 - The Co-Optimists
- 1927 - Hit the Deck
- 1928 - Song Of The Sea
- 1929 - Coo-ee
- 1929 - The Co-Optimists
- 1930 - The Co-Optimists
- 1932 - Savoy Follies
- 1934 - Three Sisters
- 1936 - All Wave
- 1938 - London Rhapsody
- 1940 - Up And Doing
- 1942 - Fine And Dandy
- 1956 - My Fair Lady, Broadway production
- 1958 - My Fair Lady, London production
[edit] Film and TV appearances
- 1921 : The Rotters : Arthur Wait
- 1929 : The Co-Optimists
- 1933 : Sleeping Car : Francois
- 1933 : The Girl from Maxim's : Mongicourt
- 1934 : Love at Second Sight : PC
- 1934 : D'Ye Ken John Peel? : Sam Small
- 1934 : Lily of Killarney : Father O'Flynn
- 1934 : Road House : Donovan
- 1934 : Sing As We Go : Policeman
- 1935 : Play Up the Band : Sam Small
- 1935 : Squibs : Constable Charley Lee
- 1937 : Sam Small Leaves Town : Richard Manning
- 1937 : Song of the Forge : Joe / Sir William Barrett
- 1937 : The Vicar of Bray : The Vicar of Bray
- 1937 : Cotton Queen : Sam Owen
- 1939 : Sam Goes Shopping : Sam / Narrator
- 1941 : Major Barbara : Policeman
- 1942 : Salute John Citizen : Oskey
- 1944 : This Happy Breed : Bob Mitchell
- 1944 : The Way Ahead : Pvt. Ted Brewer
- 1944 : Champagne Charlie : The Great Vance
- 1945 : The Way to the Stars : Mr. Palmer
- 1945 : Brief Encounter : Albert Godby
- 1945 : Caesar and Cleopatra : Belzanor
- 1946 : Wanted for Murder : Sgt. Sullivan
- 1946 : Carnival : Charlie Raeburn
- 1947 : Meet Me at Dawn : Emile
- 1947 : Nicholas Nickleby (film) : Vincent Crummles
- 1948 : Snowbound : Joe Wesson
- 1948 : One Night with You : Tramp
- 1948 : Hamlet : Gravedigger
- 1948 : The Winslow Boy : Comedian
- 1948 : The Noose : Insp. Kendall
- 1948 : Another Shore : Alastair McNeil
- 1949 : Passport to Pimlico : Arthur Pemberton
- 1949 : The Perfect Woman : Ramshead
- 1950 : Midnight Episode : Professor Prince
- 1951 : One Wild Oat : Alfred Gilbey
- 1951 : The Lavender Hill Mob : Alfred Pendlebury
- 1951 : The Magic Box : Broker's Man
- 1951 : Lady Godiva Rides Again : Mr. Clark
- 1952 : The Happy Family : Henry Lord
- 1952 : Meet Me Tonight : Henry Gow: Fumed Oak
- 1953 : Fast and Loose : Mr. Crabb
- 1953 : The Titfield Thunderbolt : Valentine
- 1953 : The Beggar's Opera (film) : Mr. Lockit
- 1953 : A Day to Remember : Charley Porter
- 1953 : Meet Mr. Lucifer : Sam Hollingsworth / Mr. Lucifer
- 1955 : An Alligator Named Daisy : The General
- 1956 : Jumping for Joy : Captain Jack Montague
- 1959 : Alive and Kicking : MacDonagh
- 1959 : No Trees in the Street : Kipper
- 1960 : The Mikado (TV) : Pooh-Bah
- 1960 : An Arabian Night (TV) : Ibrahim
- 1961 : On the Fiddle : Mr. Cooksley
- 1961 : 'No Love for Johnnie : Fred Andrews
- 1962 : Our Man Higgins (TV) : Higgins (1962-63) (unknown episodes)
- 1964 : My Fair Lady : Alfred P. Doolittle
- 1965 : In Harm's Way : Clayton Canfil
- 1965 : Ten Little Indians : Det. William Henry Blore
- 1966 : The Sandwich Man : Park Gardener
- 1968 : Thingumybob (série TV) : Bob Bridge
- 1968 : Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter : George G. Brown
- 1969 : Target: Harry : Jason Carlyle
- 1969 : Run a Crooked Mile (TV) : Caretaker
- 1970 : The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes) : Gravedigger
- 1971 : Flight of the Doves : Judge Liffy
- 1972 : Up the Front : Vincento
- 1973 : Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (TV) : Poole
- 1975 : Journey Into Fear : Mr. Mathews
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Holloway, Stanley Wiv a little bit o' luck: The life story of Stanley Holloway, Frewin (1967) ISBN B0000CNLM5
